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American Morning
Joplin Search and Rescue; Disaster Response in Joplin; President Obama in London; NATO Airstrikes Pound Tripoli; Tornado Devastates Joplin, Missouri; The Role of Social Media During Disasters
Aired May 24, 2011 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Since the federal government began keeping records back in 1950, there has never been a single tornado in the United States that has killed so many people -- 116 people confirmed dead here in Joplin, Missouri, and this city now faces the threat of more tornadoes on this "American morning."
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome to "American Morning." it's Tuesday, may 24th. We are following the second day now of just extreme devastation for Joplin, Missouri.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Also some hope, though, 17 survivors found, and hope today as rescuers go door to door they'll be able to rescue more people they believe to be missing. Ali Velshi is there this morning in Joplin, Missouri. It's so devastates but when you look at the social networking sites and how many people are still looking for loved ones it's unbelievable.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: You know, it's 24 hours since the first sunrise after the tornado but it does matter. Yesterday the weather was so tough, that they really -- there is hope they'll find more people today.
When a tornado ripped through Joplin, Missouri, behind me on Sunday night, no one imagined it would turn out to be the single deadliest U.S. twister in recorded history. And 30 percent of this city is gone. Hundreds of police, fire fighters, National Guardsmen and other volunteers are fighting what was dangerous weather yesterday and last night and will be later on today searching for survivors. Take a look at this monster tornado that flattened Joplin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got lightning. Go back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's getting big, big, big.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's huge.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have it on video, all on video.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Probably three quarts of a mile wide, at its widest, traveling six miles, perhaps, carving a path of destruction, destroying 2,000 homes and buildings. No way to know really how many people may still be buried dead or alive in this field around me. The smell of gas is everywhere from the cars that have been crumpled up like tin cans.
The danger is far from over because the forecast calls for a chance of more tornadoes with the peak threat beginning late this afternoon. Right now the death toll from Sunday's tornado stands at 116, but officials do believe that number is likely to go a lot higher.
According to the National Weather Service, the twister hit Joplin with wind speeds between 190 and 198 miles an hour and it was staggering. As I say, it measured about three quarters of a mile wide, but it stayed on the ground long enough to carve out a six-mile gash into the heart of Joplin, and it really leveled everything in its way. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, said this is the single deadliest tornado it has recorded dating back to 1950, the year they began keeping records.
Now let's just take a look at what's going on around me. You can see over my shoulder that's the medical center over there. Casey Wian was there, he was talking to somebody who was actually rescued. That's a solid, solid building.
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. You think a hospital is a place of safety, but yesterday or the day before yesterday, Sunday night, this hospital was not. We spoke to a young man who actually was one of the survivors out of that hospital. Let's listen to what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The winds were so strong it made my ears pop. I mean my ears kept popping. The force, you know, the suction of it, I mean literally lifted up the ceiling and dropped it back down on us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WIAN: Now, there's been a lot of concern about the amount of warning that people got. He said he did not hear any warnings until about five minutes before the tornado struck. One of the issues the weather so bad, there was so much hail, that people maybe couldn't hear those warnings, and that was the case with him.
We spent time yesterday with the search and rescue teams who have been combing through this rubble hoping to find more survivors. What a difference a day makes. I mean you look now and it's a beautiful spring day here in Joplin, Missouri. That was not the case yesterday. There was quarter-sized hail, 60-mile-an-hour winds, lightning really hampering these rescue efforts.
And you alluded to this, one of the unforgettable things, I'll always remember about this disaster, the smells in the area. The gasoline smell from all of these damaged vehicles, the natural gas that's still in the air and still providing a danger to some of these rescuers, and as you mentioned it's only expected to get a little more difficult later this afternoon. But these search and rescue crews say they're going to keep at it until they're sure they can't find more survivors.
VELSHI: If one is wondering why this is so compelling a story, fully 24 hours after the first time the sun rose yesterday after the disaster, it is because of the fact that yesterday was such a tough day because of the weather and what maybe our cameras can't capture as effectively is that when you look at the remains of these houses or these cars, just all around us, they are crumpled and twisted and these rescuers have to go through every one of them.
WIAN: It's like nothing I've ever seen before. I've covered a lot of earthquakes being from southern California. This the magnitude of this destruction as far as the eye can see. Yesterday we couldn't see it that well because there was so much bad weather and you're sort of stuck in the weeds. Let me look at this.
VELSHI: As far as the eye can see, these were all homes and trees and they're gone. They've been stripped of their vegetation. We'll continue our coverage from here. Back to you, Christine and Kiran.
ROMANS: The trees in particular, you see the twisted metal on the ground but to see the trees rising through it with no branches in some cases no leaves, just stripped of anything living.
CHETRY: It looks like the aftermath of a forest fire sometimes, especially the cars as well just burned out, the gas leaks and fires. Rob Marciano is here with the latest this morning. A lot of people -- yesterday another day of severe weather for the area and today concerns as well.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. Tonight could be really rough. The issue yesterday was how much rainfall they had and temperatures on the chilly side and it was wet and still flash flood warning out for Joplin proper because of the rainfall that has fallen in the last 24 to 36 hours.
Since the tornado went through, since that time, they have had almost two inches of rainfall. So we're trying to get all that rain out of the streets and into the streams, but until 10:00 this morning, local time, flash flood warning in effect for that area and then the flash flood watch for later on today as the next round of storms begins to fire up.
Let's show you the radar, we have a severe thunderstorm watch in effect for western Kansas. That is the pulse of energy that's coming out of Colorado. That is the beginning surge of atmospheric juice that's going to be rolling across the tornado alley area which will include Joplin proper tonight. Through the afternoon from Wichita back through Oklahoma city, that's the area that we're going to watch to pop as far as the atmosphere is concerned.
But the stretch, the expanse of severe weather potential today, goes all the way to the northeast. Right now we've got some thunderstorms. This popped up. I didn't see this, severe thunderstorm watch in effect for parts of the Tennessee valley including Kentucky as that little cluster of thunderstorms, that's the leftover energy from last night that was a little bit west of the Mississippi. That will be rolling towards the I-95 corridor as the sun heats up the ground and we get peak heating of the day we'll see thunderstorms that could become severe across the I-95 corridor.
Here's where we expect the highlighted storms to take shape, New England through the southern plains, the pink area is the bull's eye. Here's what the prediction center is saying out of Norman, Oklahoma, a high risk of seeing severe thunderstorms today. That means there is a 30 percent chance of seeing a tornado touch down within a 25-mile radius of any one point. That's a good chance. They don't issue these very often, so this is going to be a dangerous situation later on this afternoon and tonight and again, moves to the east.
Here's the high temperatures for today. That's gives you an idea of the amount of heat that's going to be building up in the atmosphere today, temperatures in the 80s and 90s and add fuel to the fire and this system after tonight presses off to the east. You don't want to ignore this either. Want to be on your guard tomorrow from Indianapolis back through little rock, Memphis, areas that have seen the flooding situation. Tomorrow they're going to be under the gun for seeing severe weather as well. So we'll keep a close eye on things over the next 48 hours.
Unfortunately this is not the usual case where we see a cold front come through, clear things out, and rescue workers have a good chance with good weather to work with. Unfortunately, they got hit with a double whammy.
ROMANS: We'll watch the danger zone today because that could be really important to watch for that part of the country.
MARCIANO: Even gusty winds with all that debris that's lying around. 30, 40 mile an hour winds is a dangerous situation.
ROMANS: OK, Rob. To find out how you can help the tornado victims in Joplin, Missouri, go to CNN.com/impact. You'll find all the organizations pitching in, CNN.com/impact.
Also new this morning, mandatory evacuations under way for residents in Butte Larose, Louisiana. That's an area just 50 miles downstream from where the Morganza spillway was open. Efforts to divert the river could cause over $2 billion in damages. That's according to a new study that also found more than 21,000 homes are now at risk here of being flooded.
CHETRY: That's right. More troubles because of mother nature, this one over Iceland. This thick cloud of volcanic ash from the eruption Saturday, moving east across Europe. Now they're being forced to cancel hundreds of flights as the plume drifts towards Britain. Again, this erupted on Saturday and there you see in the skies right now, making air travel difficult. Caution, of course, is the name of the game. Some of these countries deciding to go ahead and ground flights because of it. Scotland made that decision. All planes grounded there. Meanwhile, Iceland's main airport has now reopened.
ROMANS: The concern, of course, is ash in the airline engines.
CHETRY: They're doing tests. Some of the airlines are doing tests just to make sure on their planes and engines to make sure.
ROMANS: That eruption forced President Obama to cut his trip to Ireland short. This morning he's in London where he will get a royal welcome from the queen along with newlyweds William and Katherine.
CHETRY: There's new evidence against the former head of the IMF. DNA found on a hotel housekeeper's clothing is reported to match Dominique Strauss-Kahn according to police sources. They are also testing more DNA found at the scene. Strauss-Kahn is charged with sexually assaulting the maid at the New York Sofitel hotel. He is out on bail.
We're following our top story at 11 minutes past the hour. Let's check back in with Ali Velshi in Joplin, Missouri.
VELSHI: We've been covering the damage down here, but what we want to understand is the recovery, the search and rescue efforts. When we come back I'm going to talk to the head of emergency management for the city of Joplin and the county around here and later on in the show we're going to talk to the head of FEMA to understand the help that the federal government is bringing in, the struggles they're having because of the weather around here. We'll be back with our live coverage of the tornado that devastated Joplin in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: I'm Ali Velshi live in Joplin, Missouri. Welcome back to our special coverage of AMERICAN MORNING. And 30 percent of this town was wiped out by the deadliest single tornado in nearly six decades. Homes and businesses completely destroyed, cars crushed, crumpled. Rescue workers working into the night looking for survivors. I saw them last night, late last night.
I'm joined now by Keith Stammer. He joined us yesterday. He's the head of emergency management for the city of Joplin and Jasper County.
Keith, good to see you again. What a frustrating, troubling night it was for you, afternoon and night yesterday because of that constant heavy rain, the winds and that lightning.
KEITH STAMMER, HEAD OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT FOR JOPLIN AND JASPER COUNTY: You said the right word, frustrating. Our people are used to being outside. They're used to being in bad weather, but when you have lightning like, you just cannot afford to take a chance on somebody getting hurt.
VELSHI: And they did. Two workers were struck?
STAMMER: Yes. We had two people that were struck. One fortunately walked away from it. The other one still in the hospital last I heard.
VELSHI: All right. What's the state of the search and rescue effort?
STAMMER: Right now, we are hoping that by the time the sun goes down tonight, we'll be done with our primary and our secondary search and rescue effort. VELSHI: All right. What are you finding? At this point, what are the numbers we've got?
STAMMER: Well, we're still at 116 people that have lost their lives. We've several hundred that have been injured. We have approximately 1,500 people that are accounted for -- unaccounted for. What that means is they've scattered. We only had like 125 people in our local shelter. That's very typical. About 10 percent will seek shelter.
VELSHI: Right.
STAMMER: Everybody else goes home. They go to family members. They go to hotels, that type of thing. When we open up the area and start letting them come back in, that's not happened yet.
VELSHI: Right.
STAMMER: But whenever we get around to that, I'm sure that number of unaccounted for will start to dwindle.
VELSHI: What's the best way if someone might be in that list of unaccounted for, somebody is trying to locate them? What's the best way to bring that list down? If you might be one of those unaccounted for but you're around and you're hearing this.
STAMMER: Well, we'd like you to call in and let us know that you're OK. First of all, call your family because they're the ones that are calling us.
VELSHI: Right.
STAMMER: And then secondly, if you could call our dispatch center and give us your name and tell us that you're OK, that would be a big help.
VELSHI: We've also had problems with communication around here. What's the status of communications?
STAMMER: It's getting better. The major telephone companies have all been in here. They've been very good to us. They've put up some extra towers. They brought us in some extra communications equipment, but it's still spotty particularly cell phone. And as you well know, most everybody is switching to the cell phones.
VELSHI: Right.
Tell me about the weather that we're expecting later on today and how you're dealing with that.
STAMMER: Well, we're watching it very well, very closely. The National Weather Service, the Springfield office has been very good to us. They were in, of course, to do the examination yesterday but they provided us with our own meteorologist 24/7 so we can stay in contact with that person and let us know what's going on. We're just very concerned about what's going to happen.
VELSHI: So you're trying to get as much done as you can before this afternoon's weather sets in.
STAMMER: Yes. We have crews that we're pushing -- we pushed them all night and we're going to continue to push through the day. Honestly, push is not a good word. They are pushing themselves.
VELSHI: I saw it with my own eyes last night, very late into the night with terrible weather conditions where some of us didn't want to get out of our cars and these guys were out in the streets moving things around and trying to do things. So we wish you continued good fortune.
STAMMER: Thank you.
VELSHI: There is some good hope coming out of here.
STAMMER: Yes, sir.
VELSHI: So let's hope it continues. A little later on I'm going to be talking with FEMA Chief Craig Fugate about assessing this disaster and what the federal aid is going to be and preparations for more damage to come. It is -- it's still -- we're not out of the danger zone just yet. We'll be right back. Our continuing coverage of the tornado here in Missouri continues after this break on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: President Obama has promised federal aid to help the tornado victims in Missouri.
CHETRY: Yes, that's right. And the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Craig Fugate, is coordinating the response, of course, on the ground in Joplin. He's talking to us this morning and we're also joined from Joplin this morning by the city's mayor, Mike Woolston.
Thank you both for joining us this morning under, I understand, quite trying circumstances.
Craig, I understand you had a chance to speak to the White House this morning. What have they pledged to do in terms of helping Joplin?
CRAIG FUGATE, FEMA DIRECTOR: Well, I talked to the president this morning. Yesterday, he declared this area a disaster area, adding it to the existing tornado response here in Missouri. So we've activated the assistance for individuals and families who can start registering at FEMA, 1-800-621-FEMA, as well as emergency assistance to support the state and the local response to this disaster.
ROMANS: Mr. Mayor, let me ask you about the scene on the ground and trying to find people in the rubble. I know that emergency response literally going door to door. Are you still pulling people out of this wreckage of this town alive?
MAYOR MIKE WOOLSTON, JOPLIN: We pulled a number of people out yesterday. Most of our search and rescue folks have tried to get some sleep last night after a very long day yesterday. We'll be back out at first light this morning, continuing the search and recovery effort. We have searched virtually every grid at least once, some as many as three times. We'll continue that effort today and probably late today, make the assessment of at what point we enter the recovery mode.
CHETRY: And, Craig, this year we've seen literally disaster after disaster. I mean, it was just last month that Tuscaloosa, Alabama, faced a tornado of this force and magnitude. You had more than 300 dead there. You had the situation that's still ongoing right now with the Mississippi River and the flooding. That's on top of the snow storms and now hurricane season is around the corner. I mean, how much can our federal government afford when it comes to helping with natural disasters?
FUGATE: Well right now, we're still focused on response. As you point out in many areas, we're continuing to support that. Again, the cost of these disasters will continue to mount but our primary focus right now is supporting the initial response, helping the individuals and supporting the initial cleanup from these disasters.
ROMANS: It's really just a shocking scene here. You know, as Kiran said, we're going through on the cusp of a hurricane season. You never know really when an earthquake is going to strike. There's so many things for emergency managers, people like you to worry about. Are you worried at all about a new era of fiscal austerity in this country where we might not have the money for all of this?
FUGATE: No. Again, this country has always come to the aid of their community and states and disasters. We'll do that in a responsible way, but we can't do it by ourselves. I think the important thing here is that we have to do this as a team, state, local, the federal government, but also the volunteers who many of the response and efforts you're seeing here at a local level are being carried out by church groups and volunteers from all walks of life helping their neighbors in this time of disaster.
CHETRY: Yes, absolutely. And the human toll so evident. We had a chance yesterday and we just want to play it again for our viewers so they can just get a little taste of the scale of the fear and what it was like in the heart of this tornado when it touched down. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. Jesus.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Mr. Mayor, that was taken by people who smartly sought shelter inside the refrigerator of a convenient store. The convenient store decimated in the wake of this. How does Joplin put the pieces back together and recover?
WOOLSTON: Well, you just take one step at a time. We've got an overwhelming response from volunteers who want to help, overwhelming response with the donations, and it's just all of us working together. As the director said, it's a team effort and through the team we will rebuild and recover.
ROMANS: All right. Craig Fugate, thanks so much for joining us. Also, Mr. Mayor, thank you so much for your time. Best of luck. Our thoughts and prayers are with all of you as you begin the very, very hard work of picking up the pieces. Thanks so much to both of you.
Twenty-five minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Twenty-eight minutes past the hour. Let's take you over to London where President Obama is on a state visit right now as we speak, getting the royal welcome from the queen at Buckingham Palace. We're looking at live pictures right now. This is the second stop on the president's four-nation, six-day tour of Europe.
ROMANS: After the formal greeting by the queen, they're expected to have lunch at the Buckingham Palace Gardens. This is also known as the queen's backyard. Prince William and his new bride Catherine will also be part of the royal greeting party. And no word on whether the president will be able to make a (INAUDIBLE) smile. No American has yet been able to, but there you go.
CNN's Ed Henry is traveling with the president. He joins us live from Buckingham Palace Gardens.
Good morning, Ed.
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. You're right. The president and first lady actually meeting privately with William and Kate just back from the royal honeymoon. We're going to get a still photo of that. But they're not going to be out as part of this official ceremony that's happening behind me.
You can see the honor guard and what not. They're getting the pipes and drums ready, all warmed up. You mentioned that lunch after this formal ceremony. They'll also be two different salutes, a 41-gun salute at a nearby park that the president should be able to hear, but then also at the tower of London, there's going to be a 62-gun salute. Certainly they're rolling out the red carpet.
But we should note that after that lunch with her majesty, the queen, the president and first lady will be heading over to 10 Downing. He does have some serious business to do with the prime minister, David Cameron. They're going to be talking about a whole bunch of international issues, of course, between the U.S. and U.K. roles in Libya, the war in Afghanistan.
They're also both trying to get the Israeli/Palestinian peace process, which is off track, get it back on track. And then they're also going to both be talking about the global economic crisis and trying to reduce budget deficits in both their nations, so that they can try to instill some confidence in the world markets. But then they're going to come back here for a very lavish state dinner. One royal expert is saying that they give you an idea of the attention to detail here. That they actually take out a tape measure at Buckingham Palace to measure how far away the wine glasses are. If you can imagine the pressure you feel sometimes at a black tie dinner in the states, imagine being at a state dinner at Buckingham Palace and measuring how far the wine glasses are.
The president and first lady will be sleeping at Buckingham Palace. You can hear the gun salute is starting and we can hear it behind me. They will be sleeping here at Buckingham Palace. They actually got here a little bit early because of that volcanic ash in Iceland.
President and first lady had to leave Ireland last night and come to London one night early, but they stayed at the ambassador's residence. It's not like you can call ahead to Buckingham Palace and say we're a little early, can we drop in.
ROMANS: We're looking right now at live pictures of the queen and the president and, wow. The pomp and circumstance of a state visit, that's for sure.
CHETRY: We're hearing ""The Star-Spangled Banner." The president and first lady have their hands over the heart, the queen standing at attention and as we know, as you said, the pomp and circumstance taking place.
Always interesting in London because there is the visit to the monarchy and then, of course, there's visit to the political leaders.
ROMANS: Right.
CHETRY: Whereas Ed said business needs to be done.
HENRY: No doubt about it. We're going to be seeing some of that happen. Right now as you hear the national anthem behind me, pretty remarkable to be here in front of Buckingham Palace. We don't always get to see. This is the backside of Buckingham Palace. We normally see the formal front side. Obviously this was front and center around all the ceremonies involving the royal wedding.
But being here now with the president and first lady, as you hear the national anthem, you hear, I mentioned there's two different gun salutes going on, 41-gun salute at a nearby park, the one the president and first lady can hear because it's close to the palace.
There's a 62-gun salute that's going to be happening at the Tower of London for the rest of the city to hear.
ROMANS: So for royal protocol, do they have somebody whispering into the American delegation ear about don't do this, do this, stand here. I mean, because there are a lot of rules.
HENRY: Absolutely. And you'll remember that there was a big to-do about, you know, about two years ago, I guess, when the president and first lady were here, for the G-20 summit and paid a call on her majesty here at Buckingham Palace. And there had been the protocol you're not supposed to touch the queen, but the first lady touched her back, as I recall. But you also remember that the queen then responded and embraced the first lady. It didn't appear she was insulted at all, but you're right certainly people walking on egg shells.
We also should note that just in the last few moments, there's been a pretty heavy security presence and it's probably very hard to see, but I can tell you walking at the top of the palace. Behind me are several sort of members of what appear to be some sort of a SWAT team, making sure, doesn't appear there's any specific threat.
But making sure with so many dignitaries out here in the open behind Buckingham Palace, you can imagine that the security presence is pretty intense.
CHETRY: Very interesting. They wrote a joint op-ed, both leaders, David Cameron and our president in "The Times" today saying ours is a not just a special relationship, but essential relationship for the rest of the world.
So it will be interesting to find out more about what they discussed and how that went. Ed Henry for us. We'll be checking back in with you, thank you so much.
ROMANS: Looks like another nice day in London.
CHETRY: You can see the wind. The Duchess of Cornwall's hat was blowing around a little bit, but, yes, a beautiful, sunny day there, very rare. We would like to see some in New York.
ROMANS: That's right.
CHETRY: Meanwhile, we're starting to bring you the latest news out of Libya as well.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY (voice-over): NATO air strikes escalating in the capital. This morning more than a dozen strikes pummeled Tripoli. NATO officials say they were targeting a compound for forces loyal to leader Moammar Gadhafi.
Officials say it's the heaviest attack since the NATO missions began more than two months ago. At least three are dead and hundreds are injured.
The operator of Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant is now confirming that meltdowns happened at two more reactors. TEPCO says fuel rods at the number 1, 2, and 3 reactors melted down early on after an earthquake and tsunami crippled that plant.
ROMANS: Severe weather and now the threat of more tornadoes complicating rescue efforts in Joplin, Missouri, this morning. The death toll is at 116 right now and according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration it made Sunday's twister the single deadliest on record in the U.S. and officials expect that number to rise.
Two thousand homes and businesses in Joplin are damaged or destroyed. Seventeen survivors have already been rescued. And here is a live look right now at the radar where the National Weather Service says there is a chance of more tornadic activity today with Joplin in the danger zone beginning later this afternoon.
I believe, they said from 4:00 p.m. to midnight is when the biggest threat exists, about a 45 percent chance. Not to hit necessarily Joplin proper, but that area under the gun.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: And Ali Velshi is in Joplin. It was a tough day for rescuers yesterday, Ali, because of the rain and because of lightning.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: It was not a great day for search and recovery efforts and then today, now this concern later this afternoon about potentially more bad weather in the region.
VELSHI: So the weather's beautiful right now, and it's a window of opportunity. We were just talking to the head of emergency management here who said he's really going to try and get as much done as they can, try to wrap this search and rescue up by the end of the day.
You know, Christine, you're from the Midwest. You've heard tornado sirens. You know what it's like. Sometimes as a viewer I wonder what's to be gained from continuing to cover these things. Take a look at this damage.
It is really just hard to comprehend. There are cars in here crumpled like tin cans. There is no foliage on any of the trees. There are no houses. These were all houses. For miles as far as we can see, these were supposed to be houses. That building, the one building standing there is the medical center and even that is mostly destroyed.
So, you know, it's hard to believe that there were survivors of this, but there were. The fact is there were survivors. Seventeen people were pulled from the damage and they're hoping to pull more today. But there are a lot of people who just managed to dodge the worst of it by chance.
Two rescuers, by the way, because of the traffic, the lightning yesterday, two rescuers were struck by lightning. This is the deadliest twister on record in U.S. history. Some Joplin, Missouri, residents learned that the hard way. You can't outrun it.
One of them is with me right now, Will Lynch. Will studies outside of here, at the University of Missouri. Will, you heard this coming, like others have told me, this is tornado alley.
You're used to hearing tornado sirens. It doesn't usually get people to leave town or seek shelter. Why did you? WILL LYNCH, SURVIVED TORNADO: It got to a point where I knew I couldn't continue driving through the storm and I knew that it was time to pull over and try to seek refuge where I could.
VELSHI: So what did you do? You're with your girlfriend. You went to get her first of all so that you get out of town then tell me what happened?
LYNCH: We were on our way toward the interstate to get out of town. We got to 20th and range line.
VELSHI: 20th and range line is out that way.
LYNCH: About 20 blocks east of here. Actually about half of the casualties were around that intersection.
VELSHI: Right.
LYNCH: Well, I pulled up next to a building to try to get -- the building to block the wind. I saw in front of me a blue dumpster move across the parking lot.
VELSHI: The dumpster moved itself. The storm moved it.
LYNCH: Right, and my girlfriend was laying down on the seat. I lay on top of her and initially we lost our first window and I tried to hold something up to protect us from debris eventually lost all of our windows.
VELSHI: Let's take a look at what's left of your struck. I have to say, after everything you and I have seen around here, your struck is actually not the worst of it, but it's completely destroyed.
LYNCH: Yes, the truck is gone. Seeing pictures of it and looking at it right now, I know that we're lucky to be alive.
VELSHI: All right, what did you -- I mean, to see what happened to that truck you were in it. What were you feeling?
LYNCH: We were scared. We were just saying prayers and trying to hope we could make it through.
VELSHI: How is she doing?
LYNCH: She's doing well. She only has about two or three cuts on her. We're both doing extremely well for what we've been through.
VELSHI: You were trying to get out of town, but you told me before you came on, you're kind of glad you didn't. Why?
LYNCH: You know, the town needs a lot of help right now. We need prayers, donations, volunteers and I'm glad I can be here to help. But I know we're a strong city, we're going to get through this and we're going to rebuild.
VELSHI: Just turn around with me and look at this. It is hard to comprehend. I was watching this on TV before I got here and I couldn't comprehend what I'm seeing around me from the pictures. This is sort of devastation on a scale many people have never seen. Does this town, how do you rebuild this?
LYNCH: You know, we just have to start with getting everybody we can together, making sure everybody is accounted for and OK, and just working together as a community to try and make sure that we can get through this.
VELSHI: All right. Well, I'm glad that you're with us because looking at your vehicle. It's hard to believe that you've actually made it out of there, but I'm glad you are.
The search and rescue does continue today. We did speak to the head of Emergency Management for Jasper County and for Joplin and he says they are going to try to take advantage of the fact that the sun is shining, it's a little bit warmer.
They're going to try and get that all done today. There are about 1,500 people not accounted for, but those could be people who have left town voluntarily. They are asking that if you are one of those people, please contact your families and try to contact emergency management here in the city.
There are some cell phone problems and that continues to hamper the effort, but they're hoping that Governor Jay Nixon most of those people just left like Will was trying to leave. It's a race to find survivors, though. Missouri joins us right after this break. Stay with us.
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BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I want everybody in Joplin, everybody in Missouri, everybody in Minnesota, everybody across the Midwest, to know that we are here for you. The American people are by your side.
We're going to stay there until every home is repaired, until every neighborhood is rebuilt, until every business is back on its feet. That's my commitment and that's the American people's commitment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: President Obama is going to get a firsthand look at this devastation that I'm standing in right now when we travels to Joplin, Missouri, on Sunday.
Missouri Governor Jay Nixon has been on the ground, he's with me now. Governor, you have the latest on the death toll is 116 as we know it right now. Is that what you have still?
GOVERNOR JAY NIXON, MISSOURI: Yes, but I expect it to rise. I mean, with the number of action last night, we had to pull everybody off because of the lightning that hit two police officers last night, but the bottom line looks as if the numbers will continue to rise.
VELSHI: Tell us the update of the condition of the two workers who were hit.
NIXON: One is feeling pretty good. The other one is in the Intensive Care Unit. Obviously when you have workers out, helping people and get struck by lightning, you have to pull together.
But as we sit here at dawn and moving forward today, we still have two sectors to clear. They've got apartment complexes in them, and we're hopeful that we're going to find survivors in there.
VELSHI: All right and you have the weather you were hoping for yesterday and didn't get yesterday. Yesterday was treacherous for the rescuers. Today you have a window.
NIXON: We do. Made difficult yesterday some of the dogs that help sniff things out, it's very difficult for them to work in the rain. But also we have weather coming this afternoon so we're trying to get a lot of work done this morning as we fan out across this entire field of devastation.
VELSHI: You spent a lot of time touring around here. You haven't been up. You're about to up in a helicopter in a little while.
NIXON: We're going to go up and look at this. We're going to take some local officials up, assuming the air stays stable we'll get those assets here, get around and give all the local officials the opportunity to look down on what this devastation field is.
VELSHI: You've heard that the president is coming in. You spoke to the president this morning.
NIXON: I spoke to him yesterday morning. I spoke to him again this morning. He sent his -- once again they've said that they would do anything they could to help us recover and also hopes and prayers for the folks here. I mean, this is a significant tragedy, a loss of life. Pretty much everybody in Joplin knows somebody who has been lost and with the numbers moving up this could be even worse as the day goes on.
VELSHI: What's your message out there to the government, to the federal government, the help you need from them and what others can do for you?
NIXON: In the short run we want to finish the searches here. We still think there are people out there that could be alive and we want to make sure we do everything to save those. These first responders from around the state and around the nation have been helping us is important.
Secondarily, we want to make sure the people who have been injured are safe. We've had to triage people out of here because the hospital's been knocked over.
And third is we're going to recover. Long run, we're going to recover and rebuild. But until we get the full searches done and everybody back safe we're not focused on rebuilding until we can get these folks back and save.
VELSHI: What's your status with National Guard troops?
NIXON: We have about 300 troops in the area. They're doing a couple of things. We had a search and rescue team that's trained to go out and assist. We also have MPs here to back up the local law enforcement to make sure that we don't have any sort of problem with any crime activity. Once again, Missourians come together in difficult situations so we those additional resources here.
VELSHI: We're thankful for small blessings like a clear sky and some sun right now. We probably just have a few hours of window but you're going to use it well.
NIXON: Clearly. It's a short window but we're going to get up and all these local officials have been managing this at the local level, get a chance to see the breadth of this and hopefully that will give us -- it might give us some additional targets where they came through during the rain that might have people in there still alive.
VELSHI: How worried are you about this afternoon's forecast about even the possibility of another tornado in the region?
NIXON: Well clearly, when you're at a ground like this and you see the most historic number of deaths in recent memory in our country, you're always reminded. We've also had other tornadoes and floods in Missouri this spring so it's been a sobering and difficult spring for Missouri, but we come together and we will rise just like the plants do this year.
VELSHI: All right. Governor Nixon, we'll stay in touch with you. Thanks very much and best of luck to the search and rescuers to get this job done.
Kiran and Christine.
CHETRY: All right. A lot of hope for the future, a lot of optimism and they're going to need it, obviously.
ROMANS: Sobering and difficult spring but we're going to come up like the plants do. That was a nice way to put it from the governor.
CHETRY: You know, people are relying heavily on social networking. We talked about the difficulty with spotty phone service and it's proving to be very vital in reconnecting people missing loved ones in the aftermath of the tornado. We're going to give you an update on what sites are out there and also if you're looking to help, what you can do.
ROMANS: Also this morning, several reports that the former IMF chief's DNA was found on the maid's dress, the woman that he is accused of sexually assaulting, trying to rape. We're going to have more on this. Also, the wife of the former IMF chief, a French personality, television personality with a very popular blog, she has stopped that blog, she says, for obvious reasons for the time being. We'll have all the latest on the DSK case.
It's 48 minutes after the hour.
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ROMANS: A lot going on this morning. Here are your headlines.
Breaking news, the death toll stands at 117. More extreme weather threatening Joplin, Missouri today. The National Weather Service says there's a chance of new tornado activity later this afternoon. Sunday's twister killed at least 116 people. Now 117 confirmed dead. That makes it the single deadliest tornado on record in the U.S.
Thunderstorms and lightning complicate search and rescue in Joplin. Two thousand homes and buildings have been destroyed or damaged. Seventeen people have been rescued so far. Hundreds more are feared trapped.
New evidence in the case against the former IMF chief. According to a number of published reports, Dominique Strauss-Kahn's DNA matches material found on the hotel maid's clothing, the woman he's accused of sexually assaulting. Right now, Dominique Strauss-Kahn is out on bail.
President Obama on a state visit to London. The president and first lady getting a royal welcome from Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace. Later, he will meet with British Prime Minister David Cameron and tonight the president will be guest of honor at a state dinner.
Worries over Europe's debt problems driving stocks into the red yesterday. The Dow plunged nearly 131 points. The S&P 500, Nasdaq also fell.
You're caught up on the day's headlines. AMERICAN MORNING back right after this break.
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CHETRY: Well, our top story right now continues to be the tornado that tore apart Joplin, Missouri.
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CHETRY: I mean, look at that. Look at the sky. Look at the clouds. I mean, it is just chilling to see. It is the deadliest twister on record now in the U.S., according to NOAA, measuring three-quarters of a mile across and flattening a six mile stretch of Joplin, with wind speeds of up to 198 miles an hour. And more extreme weather including the chance of more tornado activity is in the forecast for the Joplin area this afternoon.
ROMANS: So far there are 117 confirmed fatalities in Joplin but that number could rise as search and rescue teams reach more flattened buildings.
Look at this close-up view of the tornado as it was forming Sunday. This is courtesy of the storm chasing team at tornadovideo.net.
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ROMANS: You see the debris outside of it flying around, very dangerous.
CHETRY: And actually they're thinking that perhaps there were other funnel clouds, actually, disguised in the actual storm itself. More than just one single cloud. We first showed you this video yesterday, as well, capturing the terror of about 20 people jammed into an industrial refrigerator inside of a Joplin convenience store when the tornado hit.
ROMANS: Now, the video is very dark but it's not the video that matters. Listen carefully to the people as they begin to pray as the twister grows louder around them.
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CHETRY: In the end, they all survived it.
ROMANS: That's right.
CHETRY: They got out of the refrigerator and found out the convenience store they had been in -- decimated. Because there is limited phone service and electricity in Joplin, social web sites are beginning to play a very important role when it comes to spreading information. So we wanted to show you a few.
The first one out there is a Facebook page Joplin Missouri Tornado Recovery. And this is where people are basically going on to either send their wishes and prayers or to volunteer from help.
ROMANS: Here is one from Margaret Yancy (ph), "Praise god." Others saying hallelujah. Wonderful news. Tell her I love her. This is where they're finding out that people have been found. Manika Milton (ph) has been found. Others just writing their own prayers. Others pointing out that, yes, I found so-and-so or I'm still looking for so- and-so, so to be able to really talk about where people are and connect people.
CHETRY: Another one that's doing that is this survivor's page. This is where people are saying, please, this is who I'm looking for. Please add to the missing. They're showing spreadsheets and web sites. This one particularly really got me here. They're looking for a child, baby Schuler (ph). Has baby Schuler been found and the answer is still no.
ROMANS: Wow. Someone was posing another site about baby Schuler saying, too, she was missing. Family can call, must have a picture.
So, look, they're trying to get as much information as they possibly can. Next up, we have an American Red Cross web site called safeandwell.org.
CHETRY: This is smart because this is where you can actually register. We heard some of the -- we heard the emergency manager out of Joplin saying, you've got to let people know. You've got your loved ones, contact them. But also contact authorities.
ROMANS: You can list yourself as safe and well, or you can search for registrants. So this has basically -- we've seen in We have seen in years past when there's a disaster, people put up signs at the post office or grocery store.
CHETRY: This is the modern day sign.
ROMANS: Exactly. This is the modern day version of sifting through all of those signs to try to find someone and their status.
CHETRY: When it comes to try to finding resources, Missouri National Guard page, as well. This is the government organization, of course, and here they're giving you information on where you can contact -- where you can find out information about mobilization activities, where they're going in your area, where they're training in your area. So again, this is proving to be pretty vital.
ROMANS: And also businesses. What businesses are doing, what they are volunteering or ways that you can help with your business or go to volunteer someplace. If you're not looking for someone or you don't want to put yourself on it because you're missing, this is one way to also help. So, there you go.
CHETRY: A lot of people want to know how to help, as well. This is our Impact Your World page here at CNN. You can click to find the full story. And we have put together a really good list, CNN.com has, sorry, why don't you move it up there, of all the organizations that are basically taking donations. Alabama's Emergency Relief, where you can help tornado victims as well as many others because obviously this is not the only natural disaster that is taking place right now.
ROMANS: OK. That's all you need to know for how to help online using social media to try to help the victims and the survivors in Joplin, Missouri.
We're going to have the top stories right after your break.
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